Rosie and Joy Convict Cheney; Barbara Plays Pilate

The very first topic on the March 7 edition of The View, was about the conviction of ‘Scooter’ Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice. So what do Rosie O’Donnell and Joy Behar have to say? They convict the vice president of "treason." Behar exclaimed that it is a "delight" for her that Dick Cheney is "in trouble"and Rosie O’Donnell agreed. Behar, known for her conspiracy theories, suspected the timing of Vice President Cheney’s blood clot.

At that point, Barbara Walters sought to play Pontius Pilate washing her hands free of Joy and Rosie. In standard disclaimer format she stated:

"I would like to point out, which Rosie and I talk about, that the opinions expressed in this program are the opinions of the individual people."

Rosie O’Donnell said if anyone has an issue with Rosie, "call" Rosie and not Barbara. That would be no easy feat considering on The View’s website, there are links to e-mail all of the co-hosts except Rosie. Walters, Rosie’s boss, exclaimed that she can not possibly control her. Interestingly she was somehow able to control Star Jones.

Rosie proceeded to say that Watergate was "like a tiny little rainstorm and this is like a tsunami," and once again called to impeach the entire administration. Behar responded by calling to "send them to jail. Impeachment takes too much time."

Throughout the course of the discussion the audience applauded the most inflammatory statements and even hissed a comment by token non-liberal Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The transcript is below.

O’Donnell: "What does it all mean? Joy, take it."

Joy Behar: "Well, you know, I don’t know exactly what it means. I know that Dick Cheney is in trouble now, which is a delight for me."

O’Donnell: "Yes, I agree."

[Applause]

Hasselbeck: "And many others, I’m sure."

Behar: "And many others. I think it's, it’s not a coincidence that he has a blood clot this week, which is Spanish for, you know, I'm going to go down next so I think I'll retire."

[Applause]

Hasselbeck: "You think so?"

Behar: "Yeah."

Hasselbeck: "Oh, that's harsh."

Behar: "It's not harsh. It’s a way out."

Hasselbeck: "That's no joke."

Behar: "A lot of times- no I'm not making fun of the blood clot. I think he probably, you know, psychosomatically may have a blood clot."

Hasselbeck: "Interesting."

Behar: "Who wouldn't have a blood clot after the lying that he did? Talk about a backup of blood!"

Hasselbeck: "I just would like to know where are the other people?"

Walters: "I would like to point out, which Rosie and I talk about, that the opinions expressed in this program are the opinions of the individual people."Behar: "That’s right. I agree"

O’Donnell: "So if anything that we say, me or Joy, don't call Barbara and complain because it has nothing to do with Barbara. She gets a call: ‘I got another call from someone!’ I’m like, ‘tell them to call me!’ You know."

Walters: "They say, ‘it’s your fault you can control her.’ I can control her?"

O’Donnell: "No, no, but God knows you've tried and I appreciate it."

[...]

Behar: "Let me ask you a question. If, in fact, it is treasonous, as you said, to out a CIA operative and Robert Novak was the first to report it because Richard Armitage and Karl Rove told him, and then Scooter Libby also slipped it to somebody, why aren't they all being charged with treason?"

Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "That's what I mean, that’s what I'm saying. Well, here’s the thing: It hasn't been proven that Valerie Plame at the time was indeed covert."

O’Donnell: "She was a NOC. No, no, she was a NOC. She was 20 years in the CIA and she was a NOC."

Hasselbeck: "Absolutely but it has never been proven that she was-"

Behar: "She was a what?"

Hasselbeck: "-on paper-"

O’Donnell: "A NOC, N-O-C, right, a covert operative."

Hasselbeck: "Look at her photo. Like how could anyone that cute be covert all that time?"

O’Donnell: "Oh, come on, Elisabeth."

[audience hiss]

Hasselbeck: "I'm just saying..."

O’Donnell: "This woman risked has her life for our country going to other countries as a spy to try to help our government, for our security, which you love. So, you know-"

Hasselbeck: "I'm just saying she's so noticeable."

O’Donnell: "But that, but that, listen. You cannot, as a result of being upset that a reporter is reporting the truth of your lies, threaten other reporters by outing the wife-"

Hasselbeck: "Of course not."

O’Donnell: "- which puts her life and the life of everyone she worked with in danger."

Hasselbeck: "He’s not accused of that. He wasn't convicted of that."

Walters: "There’s, there’s another aspect of this, which is that reporters have always claimed, most reporters have claimed that information that was given to them confidentially, off the record, whatever, they do not have to reveal. Judith Miller from the New York Times went to jail rather than reveal this. Other reporters revealed it only under duress and they wanted a law so that reporters could continue to keep their information confidential."

O’Donnell: "Even when it's criminal? Even when the act is criminal?"

Walters: "Yes."

O’Donnell: "So if a reporter knows about a murder or a reporter knows about a treasonable offense, they're not allowed to say who did it?"

Walters: "No, no, no. No, no, no. It’s not that they're not allowed say it. You're allowed to do whatever you want to do. Here you're talking about judgment. It's not that you're not allowed. It is that, if you want to keep this information -- if you are asked to keep this information private and you agreed to keep this information private, should you be allowed to keep it private?"

Behar: "Yes."

O’Donnell: "I think if a crime is involved, no."

Behar: "Well, you have to, you can’t do that because then you put the journalist at risk, and no one will talk to them anymore."

Walters: "And the journalist may be investigating further."

O’Donnell: "When the journalists, or when media in our nation has let us down as a democracy. When they have not followed through on any of the truths that have been happening, when you compare what happened in Watergate to what happened now, Watergate is like a tiny little rainstorm and this is like a tsunami."

Behar: "Yes, that’s right."

[Applause]

Behar: "That’s true."

O’Donnell: "And we are not standing up going, hold it, impeach the entire group of them."

Walters: "What you were talking about is the buck stopped there. The buck, the buck stopped with ‘Scooter’ Libby. It did not go higher."

O’Donnell: "But think that, that it's absurd in the same way that Lindy England is in jail right now, as if, Lindy England, this little girl from New Jersey was the one who came up with the standards for tortu, torture at Abu Ghraib. Now, come on. That's absurd. None of the people who were in the hierarchy who make the decisions, Dick Cheney leaked this information because he was furious that somebody was saying he was lying."

Hasselbeck: "Has that been proven?"

O’Donnell: "That is the truth."

Hasselbeck: "But it’s not been proven yet though."

O’Donnell: "Well, I know because the media is controlled by-"

Behar: "Cheney is gone. Cheney’s going, he’s going, I'm telling you."

Hasselbeck: "But let's not put the cart before the horse. Is that the correct expression? Yes. We are, right now, we’re dependent right now on our system of justice to make sure things are done properly and that truth is told. So we have to be patient in the fact that Cheney has not been convicted of doing that and also of the fact that ‘Scooter’ Libby has not been convicted of outing Valerie Plame."

Joy Behar: "So what does it mean?"

Walters: "Cheney, Cheney-"

O’Donnell: "Was not called."

Walters: "-on the record, did not lie."

Hasselbeck: "Right."

Walters: "I mean the thing that happened with ‘Scooter’ Libby is, when he talked to the FBI, he, they say did not tell the truth, obstructed justice."

O’Donnell: "But the question is, is he covering for someone?"

Behar: "But the motivation to go to war is the real important point here."

O’Donnell: "But I think, I feel bad for ‘Scooter’ Libby. I think that he's a fall guy and that I hope when he appeals that he sings like a bird and he sits there and says Dick Cheney told me to do this and that's why I did this because he's my boss and he's a criminal."

[Applause]

Hasselbeck: "But he did not say at his trial."

O’Donnell: "I know because he's the fall guy."

Behar: "He also might get off. So why lie now?"

Walters: "Joy, Joy, we don't know what he thought."

O’Donnell: "Right, right, we don’t know what he thought. But, actually I feel bad for him, strangely. There will be an appeal and let's hope that ‘Scooter’ Libby and his family think about all the years he'll spend in jail while Dick Cheney slips away with his blood clot back to his Halliburton life."

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